This story, Escaping Death’s Sting: A Combat Marine Life’s Story by Joel Lee Russell, is sometimes shocking, sometimes amusing but always interesting. It is a true story of a young man, Joel Lee Russell, who survives a difficult childhood to become a Marine. Not only does the reader learn about the challenges, almost impossibilities, of becoming a Marine, but also about the situations and problems in Joel’s childhood.

While many Marines might have had the same experiences going through boot camp or advanced training, probably far fewer have had to endure and then overcome the abuses and terrors of Joel’s young life. The character traits that were forged in his youth stood him in good stead as he became a Marine and survived the horrors of war in Vietnam. Joel’s experiences in Vietnam left him a tough veteran who, surrounded by such unthinkable loss and waste, turned to a higher power. Vietnam caused him to dedicate his life to living as a man of the spirit.